


Last Area

by Timpeni



Category: Shin Megami Tensei, Shin Megami Tensei II, Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, 真女神転生IV | Shin Megami Tensei IV
Genre: Amnesia, Except for SMTIII, Gen, Hell maybe I might throw in spoilers for others too, Neutral Ending, Spoilers, Spoilers for all mainline games, Spoilers for everything, True Demon Ending, no seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-30
Updated: 2013-11-30
Packaged: 2018-01-02 18:30:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 14,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1060121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Timpeni/pseuds/Timpeni
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's where the unwanted go.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Last Area

**Author's Note:**

> episode 1 of shitty characterization of as many characters as possible

“I was a fool.”

“Yeah, you were.”

Yuji turned to the Chaos hero, as if trying to muster a glare, but only sighed and cast his eyes downward. “You weren’t much better, you know.”

Pretending not to hear the other’s words, Takeshi grabbed Yuji’s arm and hoisted him forward. “Hey- Takeshi, what are you doing?”

“Well, what else can we do now other than find out where the hell we are?” Yuji has to admit, that is a valid point. “I don’t think this is Heaven, ‘specially since I’m here and all… plus, it’s just… too green to be Hell, or Makai, or whatever.”

The dirt they stood on smelled like _dirt-_ which was great, because it smelled alive and not like the sandy soil of a nuclear wasteland. Trees were everywhere, like a forest, but at the same time, the space between the plants was just enough to give them breathing space.

Yuji blinked- was this… Purgatory? No, no way- unless there was some odd version of Purgatory he’s never read of, there’s nothing to describe the place a spirit goes that’s completely devoid of other people and just full of still trees. “It’s not Heaven… I’ve been there before.”

“Yeah, I know. You were all in my face about being ‘buddy-buddy’ with God and crap like that.”

The Law hero couldn’t even muster the energy to retort.

“All we know now,” Takeshi continued, still holding onto the other’s arm. “Is that we’re dead. So we can’t really-”

“There’s something in my pocket,” Yuji said, cutting Takeshi off. “It’s a piece of paper. It’s… got the number 2122 on it.”

Takeshi doesn't really stop moving, as if he’s agitated, and reaches in the pockets of his jacket. “…Yeah, I have one too. But I have 4906 instead. Are you good at solving puzzles?”

“No.”

“Well, then.”

Yuji could see that Takeshi was just… jumping from thing to thing. Trying to find an excuse to keep moving. Like he was trying to distract himself. “We’re in our normal clothes… as in, before the whole… nuclear thing.”

“I noticed,” Takeshi said, with a bit of disappointment. (Did he really like that demon suit so much?) “Can you cast Mapper?”

Yuji shook his head. “I… can’t use any magic.”

“Thought so. I can’t use any either.”

Stomping ahead, Takeshi just drags the more lawful one along the grass, until Yuji notices something out the corner of his eye.

“Takeshi, slow down! I can see something to your left.”

“Oh.” Takeshi took heed and stared left, along with Yuji- and there it sat. A large, wooden house, climbing stories and stories tall.

They both blinked.

“Whoa,” the Chaos hero said first, before Yuji wrenched his arm free of the other’s grip and walked forward.

“We might find other people in there,” Yuji noted.

“And a drink,” Takeshi helpfully contributed.

Yuji let out another deep sign, and Takeshi elbowed him. “Come on. You’re dead. Lighten up.”

~*~

Well, there were a few things established.

Firstly, they could find no one, _anywhere._ In the building was a kitchen full of food that kept restocking, and that also meant they could get hungry and eat. Takeshi did not complain, especially when he found the alcohol stash.

Secondly, with the huge ‘living room’ on the first floor (Yuji is going to call it a living room. It’s full of couches and beanbags and has a colorful carpet and all), they hypothesize that it has to be huge _for a reason, dammit._ Maybe there were other people in that world they just haven’t found yet.

Thirdly, from the second floor onwards is just rooms. There were two rooms on the second floor, both of which were unlocked and respectively contained clothes that both of them recognized from their previous, normal lives pre-demons. No other room was unlocked. The beds were comfortable enough, and Takeshi could jump on his, much to his childish delight. But the clothes meant that the rooms were specially prepared for them individually, so there was no mistake for them being here.

And lastly, it seemed that co-existing peacefully for an extended period of time was absolutely impossible.

“It’s not like I would if I had a choice!” Takeshi growled, his fist curled up so tight that maybe if he uncurls it now, his nails would draw blood.

Yuji stared him down, wondering at the back of his mind how this argument started again. They began talking about the life they left behind, and- “You _did_ have a choice. A choice of not becoming a demon in the first place! You gave up your humanity, at least be happy you have it back now that you’re dead!”

“I never gave up my humanity! I just needed to become stronger to survive, that was all! I wanted to live, not die like you did!” His voice made Yuji’s ears hurt, and his anger was a bit too familiar. “If anyone, it was _you_ who lost yours! Manipulated by God, like a puppet!”

Choking up an argument against his statement was useless, the Law hero knew, because that was true. “Well, you didn’t really succeed, did you? Kazuya killed you in the end, too, didn’t he?!”

Yuji immediately regretted saying that, because he could only hear something close to ‘are you sure’ before he got punched square in the face.

He should’ve been able to take it, but maybe in the few hours they’ve spent being dead they’ve already grown soft, or perhaps he expected not to be able to feel pain in the afterlife, like Heaven; whatever the reason was, he was on the floor, and his face felt wrong.

“…Shit.” Yuji can hear Takeshi swear, but it doesn’t really matter, because his face _hurts_ and his nose is all _numb_ yet stinging and the pain is just branching out all over his face. And there’s another type of pain, like the kind he felt when he realized Yuka- his Yuka- was dead and gone and _suffering-_

“Oi. Let me see your face.”

Yuji realizes his head is bowed down, and blood just drips on the wooden floor. It’s warm, his blood is warm, just like the tears on his face.

When did he start crying?

Takeshi can’t really wait anymore, and forcefully- or, rather, as gently as he possibly could- tilts Yuji’s head up, and winces. “Crap, I didn’t mean to break your nose. And- shit, okay, don’t cry, I’ll fix it.”

“I’m not,” Yuji choked. “I’m not crying because it hurts.”

“…Keep your head elevated,” Takeshi said, almost as if trying to veer away from what Yuji would say next.

The Law hero listens to Takeshi, but still continues to speak.

“Why…? Why can’t we find peace, even in death? Why can’t we just be happy?”

They’re both quiet for a moment, and Takeshi just mumbles something, before walking off into the kitchen.

Without warning, there’s a strange _tch_ sound- from Yuji’s face- and his nose just snapped back into position, and the pain stopped immediately.

…What.

“I’m ba- the hell?” Takeshi squinted, staring at the blood as if to reaffirm if what just happened wasn’t his imagination. “I thought you couldn’t use magic.”

“I can’t,” Yuji muttered, just as surprised. “It just… fixed itself.”

Takeshi just stood there, with ice in his hands, and decided to just throw it all on the floor in frustration. “Okay, then, so no injury in this weird world is permanent! That makes me feel better.”

Getting up from the floor, Yuji shook his head to alleviate any dizziness from the previous pain- and as he did, his tears just flowed faster. “That… doesn’t change what I said. What I… _meant.”_

“…Dammit…” Takeshi made a face- not an annoyed one, rather, one of someone who’s been trying to avoid something, only to have it rubbed in his face. “Don’t make me think that. I’ll just go crazy and power-hungry again, and you’ll have to go all Messiah on my ass.”

Yuji didn’t think it was funny.

Takeshi looked out the window, scowl on his lips, and realized the sky was turning dark- which meant time meant something in that place. “It’s getting dark. I found a huge washroom full of showers and stuff, next to the refrigerators. You go bathe and I’ll clean up.”

The Law hero nodded, wordlessly walking away.

Just as he stood at the doorway, Takeshi coughed, and said something.

“And… I’m sorry.”

Yuji doesn’t really say anything, but he does stop crying.

~*~

“Mapping the area isn’t going to work, especially if the landscape changes every time we’re not looking.”

“But there should be a pattern, or something we can manipulate!” Yuji yelled, marking out more of the trees on the papers. It seemed that the large rooms in the wooden house not only let them live (or die, considering their postmortem state) comfortably, the drawers and desks seemed to contain boundless amounts of books and stationary. Yuji found this very nice.

Takeshi, who never really found the point of reading, doesn’t see what Yuji is trying to accomplish.

“Just accept it, Yuji, this place is beyond understanding!” Takeshi said, trying to shake Yuji out of his crazed mapping stupor. “I mean, we can get lost in the woods, and wish to go home. BAM, house right behind us for no apparent reason.”

Undeterred, Yuji rushed around and darted his eyes around wildly to their shared blind spots, and noted down the changes. “We could find something! Maybe in relation to our numbers, when we first got here, or-”

Yuji tripped over a rock that, fittingly, seemed to come out of nowhere.

“Ah, damn. You okay?” Takeshi picked Yuji up, and the Law hero brushed the dirt off his face quickly. Yuji tilted his head up, looked forward, and yelped.

“That cave wasn’t there before!”

“What cave-” Takeshi turned to the same direction as Yuji and saw a new cave. “Oh.”

This time, it was Yuji who was dragging Takeshi along. “Don’t lose sight of it! Or it might disappear!”

As dead as they were, Takeshi regarded madly dashing into a cave without any plan beforehand was a bad idea. Then again, Yuji seemed so adamant of cracking the secrets of the place, it would probably be hard to tell him to calm down.

(Why did he want to, though? Takeshi thought finding out about things and wanting to understand what was happening was his job. Maybe Yuji was desperate… to look for any sign that he hasn’t been abandoned by his God?

That was… pathetically sad.)

“Oh…? This is a small cave,” Yuji said. “There’s something inside! Like… cloth?”

Interest piqued, Takeshi walked in with Yuji, and looked closer at the cloth-

They both paused, and stared at each other.

On the floor at their feet was a large, stiff Messian coat tossed messily together with a red-blue tangle of what was Takeshi’s demon clothes.

~*~

They’ve put out a calendar in their rooms, and decide the day they arrived was January 1.

So, seeing that it was now February 8, they’ve successfully gone a little over a month without a big argument. Takeshi didn’t think it was possible. Then again, maybe the whole ‘We might be the only two people on this entire plane of existence so let’s try not to hate each other’ thing worked out.

Apparently, the more they searched the strange landscape the more they found little remnants of their lives hidden in the weirdest places. Takeshi noticed his old hoodie strewn in a tree; Yuji found an old note from his girlfriend under a stone he kicked. He hid in his room for the rest of the day, refusing to come out.

As fun as living together with one of your mortal frenemies (hint: it’s not fun) is, Takeshi was sure he’d slowly go insane from boredom. Not only that, he had to keep his tongue in check from spitting out anything that had to do with their worldviews. They’ve kind of both accepted they were both shit, but still.

Yuji suddenly started hammering on his door, and he groaned.

“…Takeshi? Wake up!”

“Later.”

“It’s important!”

“What? What could happen in this boring place?”

There’s a pause.

“There are… two more people in the living room now. Come down.”

~*~

Yuji did a good job of welcoming them, because as confused as they seemed, they didn’t look uncomfortable.

Takeshi stumbled down the stairs somewhat, half because he was trying to get a better look at them and half because he noticed they both had Messian-themed outfits.

“Hell no,” he said flatly, staring at the both of them- one of them was a girl, and the other looked like a complete idiot. “Yuji, did you summon them with some God powers to purify me or some shit?”

“No I didn’t. Don’t be rude,” Yuji answered, kicking the Chaos hero’s leg. “Beth, Zayin, this is Takeshi. Don’t worry, he doesn’t mean it. He’s just… had a bad history with…”

“Don’t we all?” The man- Zayin?- said. Takeshi wondered if he was pissed he was dead, or his face just looked like that.

Beth, on the other hand, was staring down at her fingers and fidgeting the whole while. Yuji has noticed this, and shuffled a bit awkwardly trying to bring her into the conversation. “Oh! Um, Miss… Beth. Would you like a drink?”

“No, I’m fine,” she said quickly, poking her head up. “I’m just… confused.”

“Take your time,” Yuji replied, before every descended into silence again.

…Um.

“So,” the Law hero began again. “How did you all end up here?”

“I heard a voice say the letter ‘9-6-6-1’, then simply woke up here. Beth was lying unconscious nearby,” Zayin explained. “I assume this isn’t Heaven?”

Takeshi let out a laugh. “Yeah, fat chance.”

After being jabbed by Yuji’s elbow, Beth decided to continue on with her side. “While I didn’t exactly… awaken here after death, my vision faded to black, and suddenly Zayin was trying to rouse me from slumber.”

“What do you mean, you didn’t exactly come here after you kicked it?” Takeshi narrowed his eyes.

Yuji was about to chastise him again about being too forward, but Beth seemed alright with continuing. “I was already dead. In Makai- or, the Abyss, whatever you’d call it- I was waiting to be granted peace, when…”

She shook her head. “Nevermind. It’s hard to explain.”

“Tell us, we have all the time in this goddamn world,” Takeshi growled, before he really got dragged away by Yuji.

“Um, sorry, give us some time,” Yuji said, before pulling Takeshi into the kitchen and leaving two very confused people in the living room.

Turning to the Chaos hero and losing his smile, he stared straight at him and scowled. “What was that about? They’re just as lost as we are!”

“They’re hiding things, I can sense it. Especially the girl.”

“Why should you be so worried about what they have to hide?” Yuji retorted, raising his voice. “We’re all dead, anyway.”

“Excuse me? I’d like to know, for one, what the hell this place is all about! They could tell us about it. Maybe that’s why I’d like to know more!”

The Law hero turned away, not even giving Takeshi a side-glance. “That’s no reason to be unkind. Whatever they have done to come here cannot be any more horrible than what we had fallen to.”

Then, there was a knock on the door.

“Um…” It’s the girl’s voice. “Sorry to… interrupt, but-”

“We can hear everything you’re saying,” Zayin finished off.

Everyone just kept quiet.

Yuji opened the door and played with words in his mind, trying to find the most eloquent way to excuse themselves. “Um… w-well, you must both be tired. I’m sorry you had to hear that…”

“Yeah, just go to the upper stories and see if the rooms _mysteriously unlock to your presence,_ or something,” Takeshi said, waving them off.

Yuji’s strained smile became even more fake. “There’s a working lift next to the staircase, if you’d like to use it.”

“…Um… okay,” Beth said quickly, before running off with Zayin.

“You know what? I’ll just go to sleep too,” Takeshi said, shoving past Yuji.

Obviously, the Law hero wasn’t amused. “Hey, Takeshi! I’m not done!”

“Of course you aren’t. But today is cancelled. Go to sleep. Talk to me tomorrow.”

Yuji muttered something akin to _it’s probably 9am or something,_ but Takeshi doesn’t pay any mind and just stomps up the stairs to his room.

He wasn’t going to sleep, of course; he was going to wonder about what the hell he was going to do now.

~*~

Of course, Yuji has to be in the damn kitchen.

With the other Messian dude, too.

“…Yo,” Takeshi said, which elicited a glare from Yuji. “I’m just here to get a bite.”

“I thought you said today was cancelled.” Takeshi doesn’t say anything in reply, he just walked in from the doorway and tried to avoid the newcomer’s gaze. “…In any case, Zayin here has been kind enough to fill me in with what has occurred in their lives.”

Takeshi seemed taken aback now, and he stared at the both of them. Zayin cleared his throat, and began to speak. “In my life, the Tokyo you know is turned into the Tokyo Millennium, the only remains of human life. It’s far, far in the future than the Tokyo you or Yuji know, so if you’ve truly been here for only a month, it’s likely time progresses here at a much higher speed.”

“And?” Takeshi pressed on. “What happened? Is everyone a damn Messian? …Is Kazuya still alive?”

Zayin gave Yuji a reluctant glance, and the Law hero decided to continue for him.

“…Kazuya is long dead. But he’s not here,” Yuji said, dropping the bomb. “Which means that, from what I’ve gathered from Zayin, only people who have committed atrocities in the blind desire to change the world to an extreme come here.”

Well… ouch. That realization hurt.

“But then, Beth being here makes little sense. She died protecting someone, and did nothing wrong,” Zayin added on. “While I became the thing I was most disgusted by, she lived a far too short life to have been consumed by desire or her righteousness.”

“Being dead doesn’t mean you can’t do shit. This asshole reincarnated,” Takeshi said, thumbing Yuji. “Do you know what she meant when she said ‘waiting to be granted peace’ and all that?”

Zayin seemed to think a little- which looked very odd in that face of his. “I do not know what she did then, but I do know what she meant. Likewise, I still believe she was unable to have done something atrocious. It is simply not who she was made to be.”

“Made to be?” Takeshi asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“This is going to take some time to explain.”

~*~

Well, for someone who became half of Satan and kind of wanted to kill every human on Earth, Zayin seemed to be dealing with his current circumstances pretty well.

“My memory after becoming Satan is hazy. I do know Aleph fought against me, but I do not know which path he will follow. I cannot recall.”

“Huh. So the world’s still salvageable, then,” Takeshi said, contemplating the idea of this supposed Aleph following the route of Chaos he’s dreamed of. “…Anyway, you seem cool enough, I guess. Even with the whole ‘kill all those who are undeserving’ and stuff. We all screwed up, dammit, so I guess we’re all the same. Except Beth, but whatever.”

“Speaking of Beth…” Zayin looked around a bit, grabbed a plate and seemed to search for something. “She hasn’t eaten in ages. What would a girl like to eat?”

Takeshi, being hopeless with girls, shrugged and stared at Yuji.

“…Well, my girlfriend always liked sweet things. Like konpeito!”

“What’s konpeito?”

Yuji blinked. “Um… well, perhaps we should just ask her ourselves if she’d like anything in particular.”

Zayin nodded. “She’s taking a nap, though. I’d rather not she try to find food herself, she seems very lost.”

“I sensed that too,” Takeshi added.

“…I’ve… been awake for some time.”

Beth walked in, looking around fearfully. The moment she spotted Zayin, she relaxed, but still seemed tense.

Yuji tried to be as cheery as possible, to alleviate the nervous air. “Oh! You’re awake. Then, what would you like to eat?”

The woman blinked, and looked around with a distressed expression before clearing her throat.

“…Can I know your name first? And… where I am?”

~*~

“You’re kidding me. You literally just popped in here a few hours ago, you can't have forgotten us all already!”

In the end, Yuji did find konpeito and gave it to Beth. But it just sat on the floor, untouched, as the girl endured Takeshi’s howls.

“Don’t be so harsh! Maybe she’s just confused, or something,” Yuji barked, and Takeshi had to bite back on his words again. Zayin, however, kept quiet, waiting for the others to do the same.

When the situation became a bit more still, Zayin opened his mouth. “Beth. What did you do in Makai?”

As awkward and clumsy Zayin seemed in expressing himself, it seemed he was the kind of person that would be good at consoling another. Better than Yuji, anyway.

(Takeshi thought wrong. Zayin was just nice. If he was still alive and actually went to school, he would’ve made a case study on how all lawful, God-fearing people are secretly insensitive assholes.)

Beth breathed in, and fiddled with her fingers. “I revoked my right to find peace as a soul in order to give Aleph the remains of my power,” she said in one breath.

“What…? How- why would you do that?!” Strangely, Takeshi reacted more violently to Beth’s reveal than when Zayin explained his genocidal tendencies. Maybe it was from surprise. Yuji immediately hit him on the back again, which Takeshi presumed is going to be a common practice now that there are newcomers here.

Zayin just paused for a moment, and- doesn’t find anything else to say. Because it’s obvious enough that if she did something so drastic to end up having to come here-

Either all of them are doomed to never find peace, or Beth is just…

“If… I follow what you all have said,” Beth started again- hell, Beth seemed like the only person who was fine with the situation- “Then… I suppose I go through a memory loss of the day whenever I go to sleep. Is it possible to not go to sleep here?”

Yuji and Takeshi looked at each other, and shook their heads wildly.

Beth’s mouth turned into the shape of an ‘o’ before she looked down at the konpeito, none of them finding anything to say.

~*~

“What the hell are you doing?”

“Testing my theory,” Beth said, walking around the living room in a dizzy circle. The bowl of konpeito is in her hands, and half-empty. But even skiving off sleep with dosages of sugar wouldn’t work, as her heavy eyelids and footsteps suggested. “I haven't forgotten yet, so I think it’s true.”

Takeshi squinted. “It’s been hours. You can’t stay awake forever, you know.”

“I know.” Beth rubbed her eyes, just adding onto Takeshi’s skepticism. “But if I practice staying awake, then maybe the next time I wake up and you tell me what’s happened I’ll be able to stay awake longer.”

The Chaos hero kept a close eye on how she walked, making sure she wouldn’t trip over in her groggy state or anything. “That’s stupid. You’ll just end up collapsing from sleepiness and waking up amnesiac plus a splitting headache.”

Beth gave Takeshi a bit of a look, before she just sighed and turned away. “I don’t want to forget.”

“Yeah, no shit. But you can’t run away from it,” Takeshi said, sitting on one of the beanbags on the floor. “If you weren’t prepared to not have peace ever, then maybe you should’ve given more thought into-”

“I don’t regret what I did!” Beth barked out of nowhere, before stopping herself and straightening. “…Sorry. But I truly do not.”

(Technically, Chaos heroes were shit at comforting people too. But sometimes they do it right.)

“Well, I don’t know why you’d choose to do it, but if you don’t regret it then it has to be a good reason,” Takeshi stared at Beth a bit, waiting for her to sit down, but she didn’t. “And if it helps, nothing here is ever permanent.”

Beth blinked. “But I gave up part of my soul.”

“And I started a forest fire here once.” Silence. “…It was on accident. But the thing is, the whole place heals up later.”

Finally, she sat next to Takeshi, though rather uncomfortably and her gaze was fixed on the sweets in her head. “I… don’t think anything done here compares to what is done in the living world.”

“…Alright, I don’t think we’ve told any of you two about it yet, but listen up,” Takeshi started, catching a bit of Beth’s attention. “From tomorrow onwards, we’re probably going exploring. As in, every now and then, if you walk aimlessly around the place, you’re going to find things. Like… items from your living life. Clothes, notes, stationery, shit like that.”

“The point I’m trying to make is… this place is really weird. And who knows, we might actually get part of your soul back one day.”

There’s a bit of sound from the beanbag, probably from Beth suddenly relaxing. “So… it is possible?”

“It may or may not happen, but from what I’ve seen it probably will.”

She reached for a konpeito, swiping one measly particle and popping it in her mouth. “But what if it isn’t?”

“Well… then, it just isn’t,” Takeshi said simply, which probably didn’t help with the situation. “But hey… you did what you did. And you said you don’t regret it, right? And this Aleph guy- he went on to change the world, hopefully for the better. So while I wouldn’t do that, I can’t discount what you did. It must’ve taken guts to give that all up, anyway. But what you did helped change the world, right? Something the rest of us kinda failed in doing.”

Pause. “And… sorry for being a dick, earlier. I know it’s not an excuse, but you all rubbed me the wrong way. I shouldn’t have been an asshole, ‘specially after all the shit you went through while you were alive and… not-alive.”

“It’s fine,” Beth answered, a bit of a smile on her lips. “I guess… I should sleep. But when I awake, you’ll most likely have to go through this whole conversation with me again.”

“Well, I just have to hope we get your soul bits back soon.”

“Actually… you know what?” Beth started, putting the bowl down. “You don’t need to tell me about my whole… forgetting ordeal. It’ll be easier if you just… pretended that I was new.”

Takeshi shook his head. “We’d be misleading you the whole time. If you ask me, that’s a shit existence.”

“But I’m not asking you,” she said with a bit of a laugh, though her point was clear. “I’m just saying… there’s no telling if I’d ever get my head back. So… could you do as I say, so that I won’t be a dead weight?”

The Chaos hero wanted to protest more, but for some reason, bit back his words and said-

“Okay, fine. Now go to sleep, dammit.”

~*~

_Uh, I hope you’re able to read English, because if not you’ll probably be confused. But anyway._

_We found you unconscious outside. Your friend Zayin is here, and by the time you read this we’re probably just downstairs. Tell us if you’re feeling sick or anything, though I doubt it, because we’re all dead people here. We won’t bite. I guess._

_Come downstairs when you’re awake. We’ll probably go around looking for things- in this place, you can find all kinds of shit from your previous life hidden everywhere. It’s all hard to explain on paper though._

_Anyway, see you later._

Scrawling the words messily on paper- he never had good handwriting- he tacked it on the inside of the door. Beth didn’t take long at all to fall asleep, so he tried to be as quiet as possible, cringing when the door made a squeaking sound as he shut it.

Takeshi turned away, about to leave, when he suddenly stepped on another piece of paper at his feet.

What? He didn't bring anything else along.

Squatting down, he read the numbers 4120 written in cursive on the sheet.

~*~

None of them were good at cracking codes, so those mysterious four digits everyone found remained a mystery.

To be honest, Takeshi actually found Beth a lot more bearable than Zayin. As terrible as it was to hear her constant innocent questions and confusion arise anew every single day, he preferred the company of her kind words and awkwardness.

Zayin, though… well, he did kind of try to kill everyone, so he shouldn’t have expected to get along with him. After resetting their track record of ‘no huge argument’ from around a month and a half to one day, Zayin tended to stick around Beth more.

(Even Yuji was pissed at how extreme Zayin seemed. Which meant a lot, so Takeshi tried to talk to him as minimally as possible.) Other than the irksome fact Zayin still considered himself disgusting yet slightly correct, there wasn’t really anything wrong.

They didn’t find too much, unfortunately, but whatever they did find joined in with the collection of trinkets in their room. Yuji found some religious items, Takeshi found some old photos, etcetera. At one point, Zayin found a strange-looking harp, and decided to leave it there.

The Chaos hero’s hair started to grow out, confirming that there was at least some concept of time there. It was too soon to determine if they aged. Takeshi tried to cut his own hair, just like always, but Yuji got annoyed at how he was doing it and did it for him. Now it looked too damn neat.

Takeshi’s room was starting to get a bit full, old football in the corner, familiar gun on the desk. He’s also begun to find things in longer frequencies, which probably meant he was running out of things to find. Yuji was still finding plenty, which was probably a reference to his much more comfortable life. Hell, Yuji found a _computer_ at one point- all it had was a bunch of emails from people he knew, and it didn’t need any power to run. He doesn't let anyone else near it.

Zayin wasn’t finding much at all, which probably meant being a Temple Knight sucked. When he _did_ find things, they were really… _weird._ No one questioned it, and Beth seemed to consider them normal.

Apparently codpieces were back in fashion in the future, too. Takeshi shivered.

As weird as it was, with the four of them, it was a lot less boring. Yuji and Beth clicked pretty well, and with her constant amnesia, if she wasn’t sticking to Zayin she would talk to Yuji. So, really, the only ‘alone’ one there was Takeshi.

Yet another constant reminder that God does not love him.

Takeshi did begin wishing for more people, or at least, for everyone to be less like brainwashed monkeys. In the end, he got his wish; and realized that wishes sucked, and hated that day ever since.

If he followed his calendar, it was the day July 18- aka, the day where his afterlife got fucked over.

For one, instead of politely waiting in their living room, the newcomers end up awakening them all by screaming.

~*~

“You go talk to Beth. Me and Yuji will deal with the… uh. Screaming.”

Yuji would normally correct Takeshi with a ‘It’s Yuji and I’, but seemed a bit terrified at the moment. “…If anything happens, keep Beth safe,” Yuji added a bit hesitantly. Zayin nodded (probably glad he doesn’t have to deal with… whatever it is outside).

Takeshi’s the first one to step outside; Yuji followed him, and they both looked around, trying to find the source of the noises. Walking into the woods, they suddenly saw flashes of skin, and could finally make out the words they were screeching.

“-I was the closest to getting my own Reason-”

“-get your filthy hands off me, you brat-”

“-why do you all have to be here?! I just wanted to be alone-”

Yuji looked at Takeshi. Takeshi looked at Yuji.

Takeshi sighed, and cleared his throat.

“OI. WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ALL DOING.”

The three halted, and stared at the two actual sane people.

The boy with the stupid hat suddenly began to cry more loudly.

~*~

Zayin managed to convince Beth to stay in her room, and _no matter what she heard, she was to stay inside._

After _finally_ convincing the girl to not attempt to kill the older man, and convincing the older man to not kill everyone, _and convincing_ the boy that running off into the woods alone wasn’t going to solve anything, they managed to contain them in the living room. Somewhat.

“…So, uh, let’s start,” Yuji said, not terrified at _all._ “What are your names?”

“Chiaki Hayasaka,” the ~~ticking time bomb~~ girl said first. “Creator of the Reason of Yosuga.”

“What the hell is a Reason of Yosuga,” Takeshi whispered to himself, though not loud enough for anyone to hear.

Hikawa spoke next, because the boy looked like he had no intention of talking. “Hikawa, the creator of the _better_ Reason of Shijima.”

Chiaki shot him a glare, but while she was quick to anger- as all of them have unceremoniously realized- she finds no reason to hurt him. “My name’s Isamu Nitta,” the boy finally said, but rather grimly. “My Reason is useless now.”

Uh. Okay.

“Would you all explain what happened in your world?” Zayin said.

“It ended,” Chiaki deadpanned. “And we failed to create a new one.”

Hikawa narrowed his eyes. “Don’t speak that way, especially if you refer me into it. That casts us in a bad light-”

“Face it. No matter how much you whine, the fact still remains. We’re all dead, and Naoki has become a pawn of Lucifer.” On the mention of the word ‘Lucifer’ from the girl’s lips, Zayin flinched.

Isamu opened his mouth, as if to say something, before Chiaki continued on. “In the most basic terms, Hikawa started the Conception, which meant the end of the world.”

“Mind you, I did it so I could create a perfect world anew,” Hikawa interrupted. The girl clenched her fist and decided to continue.

“Well, we could create a new one with our own views, using Reasons we bring into fruition. Unfortunately, someone who I considered my former friend ended up killing us all and launching a coup d'état against God, though he understood the value of strength and should have followed my Reason. Lucifer most likely brainwashed him, or something to that extent.”

Now, instead of saying anything, Isamu just let out a hollow laugh. Chiaki glowered at him, and Hikawa stayed silent, finding no reason to correct Chiaki’s explanation.

The two Messians looked very worried. Takeshi just looked annoyed.

“Well? Did your ‘former friend’-Naoki-person win?” The Chaos hero asked, showcasing his audacious priorities. Chiaki just turned up her nose.

“I’m dead. We’re all dead. What would we know?”

Okay, that was a pretty good point.

~*~

Takeshi had to admit, after getting a low-down from the three what the Reasons represented, he found Chiaki’s one the closest to his own. But at the same time, it was… _wrong._ He didn’t want elimination of the weak, he wanted to allow every single human or demon, weak or strong, to have a chance to become stronger and fight to the top. Of course, elimination of the weak would eventually occur, but it was just natural selection. The way Chiaki wanted to have a deemed ruler to watch over and destroy select people…

…That was too much like the Messian’s goal. Chiaki even _said_ the angels supported her.

Proud, strong, and most-likely-has-a-screw-loose Chiaki.

Yuji and Zayin spoke to the other two, most likely out of politeness more than anything else. Yuji found Hikawa irksome for the some reason he found Zayin; both were too extreme, wanting a world with complete obedience and loss of thinking to God, rather than extend a hand of salvation to everyone to show them that fighting was not the way. Yuji wanted to end sorrow, not bring forth stillness or destruction.

(Then again, Yuji was used as a puppet till the end. “Seeing what everyone else has done… who knows what God would have done with me after I succeeded,” he muttered to Takeshi once. Takeshi was just happy that the Law hero has grown at least a _bit_ more sensible than before.)

Isamu was…

Uh.

Oh, hell, how could any of them describe him…

With the three’s inclusion and their still-frequent outbursts and screaming, Beth has been shut away for the past few days. That just got on Takeshi’s nerves _more._ Plus, Zayin joined in the argument once. Takeshi would prefer Makai over this bullshit right now.

Yuji was still a bit worried about the whole ‘war against God’ thing, but Takeshi was pretty sure God had nothing to do with them anymore, anyway.

“You’re kidding me. What the hell?”

“The Amala Universe is real. Or at least, as real as how dead we all are,” Chiaki said, and technically, Takeshi didn’t think they were _that_ dead. But okay. “Naoki said a lady in black told him about it. I wouldn’t put it past him to lie, but he had no reason to.”

“So, you’re saying that with the contrasts of both of our worlds, it is most likely that we are getting people from _other universes?”_ Yuji repeated, which only got a bored nod from Chiaki.

Zayin blinked. “What does the ‘Amala Universe’ have to do with the other two being missing?”

The girl just glared, the same glare Takeshi used when he was trying to say- “I’m getting to it. Both of them don’t quite like this place, and hearing about how to you can manipulate the environment plus the concept of time, they hypothesized that this was a strange universe set aside for us people, who tried to use demons and angels to change the world but failed. Since injuries are never permanent, the only way they can ‘get away from it all’ is starving themselves.” There’s a bit of a pause from everyone.

“They’re running away from their problems, basically,” Chiaki summed up. “You probably don’t need to look for them. Isamu could never tough it out till the end, most likely crawling back with a tear-stained face or something. And it’s most likely for the best that we never see Hikawa again. He wants a ‘world of stillness’, after all-”

“We have to find them,” Yuji immediately said in contrast to Chiaki. She groaned.

Yuji looked tentatively at the forest, wincing at the changing maze of trees. “We don’t know how this world works, and what their actions could cause. It’s best if we set out now.”

As usual, Zayin volunteered to stay put to make sure Beth didn’t get subject to any trouble. Takeshi just rolled his eyes and followed Yuji to the door.

“Wait,” the Chaos hero started. “Oi, Chiaki. You don’t like them, but you’re the only one who knows anything about those two. It’s best if you come along.”

She sneered. “Are you for real? You’re just going on a wild goose chase, trying to find a weak, spoilt boy and a genocidal brick wall. While you have your right to go do what you want, I have my right to stay put.”

“Well, you’re gonna be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time with us, so get your head out of your ass and start being less of an arrogant shithead.”

The words came out of Takeshi’s mouth before Yuji could stop him. Chiaki just stared.

“…Fine. I see your point,” she said, to the surprise of both of them. “I won’t forget that insult, though.”

~*~

_Not like she was strong enough to do anything about that insult, anyway._

Chiaki stepped on the fresh grass, tuning out the noises from the other two in front of her. _No longer beautiful. No longer has the chance to bring forth the world she wanted. It was so close, too, she could feel the pulse of the land and she could feel how easy it could have been to just twist everything into form-_

“ISAMU! HIKAWA!” Yuji howled, his voice whistling through the still air, forcing the leaves the move and a breeze to flow through.

She contemplated confronting them, when she was the Baal Avatar. Her memories are cloudy once she fused with it, but she did know that she was finally _strong. Finally beautiful._

When she was a pseudo-fiend, and definitely once she fused with her demonic sponsor, her senses were fine-tuned to the environment. She could feel more, and strike back harder; her eyes moved like lightning and her reflexes responded accordingly.

Sitting the room, listening, waiting, with blood pounding in her ‘ears’ and anticipation in her head, she could almost- _hear-_ the others die.

(Actually, she definitely could hear them all. She could hear all the fighting, and their last words. How they all displayed apathetic statements, now that they were to die. She found it disgusting, how they willingly let themselves pass on without any contribution to the world. They were weak. Useless.)

“How long have we been out here?!” Takeshi yelled, punching a tree in anger. “Look, you know how we can go back to that house whenever we want to? What if they wished for us to never find them?”

Yuji just shook his head, but didn’t say anything about it. “Just keep calling for them.”

“Don’t avoid the question,” Chiaki and Takeshi suddenly rung in synchronicity. She turned away from him, realizing and slightly hating how he was the one she seemed most similar to.

Right as she did turn away, she noticed something out the corner of her eye.

The handwriting on the paper was messy, and it was crudely tacked to the tree. She recognized it instantly.

_Hey, Chiaki-_

She ripped it off the tree, and- while her first instinct would be to tear it- instead folded it in half, then again, pressing it neatly and putting it in her pocket. “What did you find?” Yuji asked, and Chiaki muttered a ‘none of your business’ before turning back to the rest.

Then, they heard footsteps from another direction.

Chiaki realized she still remembered them from the way they walked.

“Isamu,” she breathed, hand stuffed deep in her pockets. “You’re an idiot.”

He stepped closer, and the other two began yelling things like _where were you_ and _thank god you’re safe,_ but he ignored them both and looked at Chiaki.

He was holding a white jacket. She knew whom it belonged to.

“She’s not here, by the way,” Isamu said cryptically. “I found letters.”

“I found one,” Chiaki replied, and this seemed to be the most civil conversation they’ve had in a while.

Instead of hiding his eyes under a hat, Isamu looked at Chiaki’s face, and his null expression turned into a frown.

“You look tired. Go back.”

 _Tired because of you,_ she wanted to say. _Tired of trying to make my own world, only to have my own friends stand as adversaries- tired of other people with their own Reasons to uphold, and tired of looking over my shoulder because in the living world and the world after Conception, if you don’t suspect everyone and you don’t protect yourself you’re dead meat._

_Tired of studying, tired of trying to work my way up, tired of using wits alone to survive._

_Tired of trying to make a beautiful world fashioned so I could stay up on top. Tired of having it fail and turning it into a world of paranoia instead. I’m tired of all this._

Instead, she sighed and opened her mouth. “I guess I am. But this seems like a good place to rest, at least.”

(As they all walk away, Yuji and Takeshi looking very confused, Isamu just barely notices the numbers ‘0814’ on the ground, formed with a patch of dark grass with a tinge of formless red.

They never did find Hikawa.)

~*~

Sitting in her room, the ‘daylight’ still streaming through her window with a mild orange color- she felt too alive to be dead.

Yet, she didn’t feel alive at all.

She unfolded the letter.

_Hey, Chiaki!_

_I know you won’t talk to me, but I’m not gonna force you to. I just want to say that I’m ~~sr~~ sorry for what I said. I guess you do have a point._

_While I kinda wish you’d stop making fun for me for ~~being lazy~~ doing what makes me happy, too. But that doesn’t excuse what I said. I mean, I guess girls do have it harder, with all that ~~icky~~ biological stuff and all, but discrediting your anger just for that was wrong of me. Sorry. Though I didn’t really mean to offend you, I guess it just came out that way._

_I know you’ll probably still be mad at me, and man, I don’t blame you. This letter probably doesn’t sound that good either, I don’t have any way with words like you do, and I’m not writing this with Naoki, either. So, I guess if this letter makes you even more angry I won’t be surprised. But Naoki didn’t do anything wrong, so, if you don’t wanna be my friend anymore, at least be Naoki’s? He misses you a ton. And I don’t wanna be the reason why you two don’t talk to each other anymore._

_~~I miss you too~~ We’re going out for ice-cream later, after school, in the usual spot. If you do forgive me, maybe we can meet up then…? Or, at least, I’ll leave you and Naoki alone. Of course, if you’re busy studying, that’s fine too. Since you’re gonna become a doctor and save lots of people and all that! ~~Unlike me~~_

_Anyway… we’ll be waiting for you. Again… sorry. If you’re ever emotional about something, you can just talk to us, instead of bottling it up and releasing it at one go. I won’t make fun of you again! Honest!_

_Teacher’s looking at me, I think I’ll end it here. Be nice to Naoki, will you?_

_See you later, I hope!_

_-Isamu_

(Isamu was absolutely terrible at passing messages secretively in class. The teacher saw him trying to give it to Naoki and whispering rather loudly ‘pass to Chiakiiiii’. He forced Isamu to read it out loud in front of everyone.

She did meet up with them later, and gave him lessons on how to write persuasive essays, particularly on the point of trying not to sound whiny while doing it.)

Noticing something odd behind the paper, she flipped it around, and saw something that wasn’t there before.

The number 9991 was written, in _her_ handwriting.

~*~

The two of them were absolutely unreadable.

They were so different, and with Naoki as a medium between them they ended up yelling a lot, still. But this time, Chiaki had less harsh words for him pressed under her tongue, and they mostly look for fragments of their living lives together.

They were, apparently, the first two that actually knew each other since they were schoolchildren. That caused a lot of things they found to technically belong to them _both;_ so whoever’s room it ended up in was a bit of a problem.

In the end, they dumped all their stuff in Hikawa’s now-empty living space as a communal frenzy of school notes, trophies and old photographs.

At first, Chiaki tried to erase anything to do with Naoki, but with enough urging from Isamu she stopped destroying their property. Sooner or later, she _did_ learn to respect Naoki’s choice, in a way; he’s going to lead an army against God, after all. That’s a pretty huge feat.

And she unconsciously wished him the best, too. Then again, she wasn’t exactly a follower of any God, much less the tyrannical figure Zayin described to be the true one. (Though… no. Chiaki would never consider herself similar to that ruthless, lying God. ~~Even though she used to be, but now, she’s an odd individual trying to change back to normal.)~~

Yuji and Takeshi were weird. They were constantly at odds, but never actually did anything about it, and yet coexisted pretty nicely. Chiaki attributed this to the fact they were the first to arrive and probably already got used to each other, but Isamu is sure there’s something else going on between them.

Sure, it was nice to see Isamu’s sense of humor and dirty mind coming back. But not that way.

Zayin was also strange, and while he wasn’t quite like Hikawa, they shared too much in common. Chiaki tended to not speak to him, which worked well, because he was always preoccupied in taking care of this amnesiac girl called Beth. She tagged along in their expeditions a lot, with her enthusiasm and sharp senses renewed every day with her cycle of forgetfulness.

Isamu wished he could be so consumed and fascinated every time he woke up. Chiaki found her condition pitiful and distanced herself from Beth.

Whenever the both of them start a fight- which was still pretty common, since Chiaki was quick to anger, and Isamu was not afraid to speak his own mind- it would normally end with Isamu declaring he wanted to be alone and running off into the forest.

By now, they’re all used to it. He always came back sooner or later, sometimes with more stuff. Chiaki ended up having to haul him to his room if he was exhausted enough to sleep at the doorstep, but never really complained about it anymore.

And then, one day, Isamu came back with two more people.

~*~

January 2. They considered having a New Year’s celebration, but that would be too troublesome.

“Morning, Chiaki,” Yuji greeted when she plodded downstairs. (He’s outgrown terror a long time ago.) Chiaki mumbled a greeting back, still slightly sleepy.

The huge television Chiaki found was sitting in the living room, and whenever she sees it, there’s an odd feeling of just wanting to sit down and remember all the movies Isamu and Naoki watched with her on the couch, when she’s too tired to study or she just wanted company.

Right now, since there’s no channels to tune into, it’s been converted into a gaming screen, courtesy of Isamu and his retrieval of consoles. All the technology they found didn’t need electricity, which was good, because Isamu would be devastated if his save files couldn’t be stored.

The influx of ‘new-age gadgets’ from both Isamu and Chiaki awed the four of them at first, and Takeshi (plus, by circumstance, Beth) was still overexcited whenever they found new games or found yet another mobile phone they had lost over the years, though most of their functions are technically obsolete.

Right now, Beth was sitting on one of the beanbags, asking the same questions she always did, while Takeshi lazed next to her and answered them with patience Chiaki wouldn’t have expected him to possess.

Zayin stood at the door, looking around.

“He’s still not back?” Chiaki asked, and she only got a nod. “I guess I might’ve made him more upset then I realized.”

That argument was his fault, though. But hey, she didn’t get That Time of the Month here (and _thank god_ for that), so he couldn’t use PMS as an insult against her.

She stepped outside, feeling the air suddenly pick up in pace as she willed for a slight breeze. After months here, all of them have mastered how to shape the environment to their need. Trees could grow in a blink of an eye, shielding them from the sun. The grass could retract and stop tickling their feet, or flowers could bloom on command.

“You know what we still need?” Chiaki said to no one in particular. “Cameras.”

As if in response to her question, there were light footsteps coming towards her. She turned her head, expecting to see Isamu, but then paused for a moment.

That wasn’t how he walked. Listening closer, that seemed like too many footsteps at once.

“Isamu,” she said, without looking at the general direction. “Who do you have with you?”

“Two lost people,” he answered, far more calmly than she’d expect him to, especially upon finding two random people in his downtime.

~*~

These two were older than any of them were, the same way Chiaki and Isamu were younger. Then again, technically, Zayin and Beth had… questionable ages, considering how everyone knew of their complicated creation process.

Takeshi at first groaned when he saw them, but these two actually don’t seem that bad at all.

(Plus, the lady was pretty hot.)

“My name is Zelenin,” she introduced, sitting a bit stiffly on the beanbag. “My country of origin is Russia.”

Russia? Everyone blinked- she didn’t seem to carry an accent, and how did she know Japanese? “Jimenez. From the USA,” the other continued. Well, the introduction was civil, at least.

“Hello to you both!” Yuji greeted enthusiastically, and got a polite smile from Zelenin. Jimenez just lazed back. “This must be all pretty overwhelming, but-”

“It’s no matter. Isamu was kind enough to give a brief overview of the area when we stumbled upon him.” Huh, really? Chiaki was a bit surprised. Then again, she never interrupted Isamu whenever he wanted to be alone, so she didn’t know how’d he react. He seemed to take it rather well, though.

Takeshi looked at the two newcomers, examining them from head to toe. “Firstly, what’s with the weird suits? And how’d you both know Japanese?”

Isamu interrupted before anyone else could say anything. “They were surprised when I introduced myself with a Japanese name, and said I spoke English. So I guess we all speak the language of whatever people understand, or something.”

“So, does that mean you can all understand what I am saying, even though I am speaking Russian now?” Everyone nodded. “Interesting…”

“Would you mind telling us what happened in your world?” Chiaki asked, feeling it a bit off that they’ve been talking for some time without leaping for each other’s throats. “I mean, most people who come here tend to have different… _worldviews.”_

“Well-”

“Oh, hell no,” Jimenez said, after being silent for some time. “I’m not letting you explain our whole story from your jaded angel eyes.”

Alright then, back to normal.

~*~

“…and then I died,” Zelenin finally said. “Truth be told, I’m rather glad I did. My angel form was… not human.”

Yuji thought back to his ‘reincarnated Messiah’ days. _Actually, no, let’s not think back,_ he decided.

“A path, without following God or demons…” Takeshi looked wistful, and Yuji knew why.

Chiaki has technically fused with a demon before, but she was in pain and her head was a mess, so she couldn’t remember much until after the whole ordeal. “How was being fused like?” She questioned.

“Like being ripped to pieces,” Jimenez deadpanned.

Well then.

Other than the constant disagreements the two had while narrating what happened to them, they actually seemed less argumentative, and (unfortunately for more easily bored people) went into far more detail about their story than the others have had the patience to explain, especially Chiaki.

“My fusion was a lot more smooth. ‘Cept, of course, I actually used proper equipment,” Takeshi said nonchalantly.

“You fused with a demon too?” Jimenez asked, and Takeshi smirked.

Yeah, they’re gonna get along just fine.

~*~

“Four-digit numbers? No, none of that sort appeared to me in any form.”

“I got something,” Jimenez suddenly said, slipping a paper out of his pocket. “7-4-9-3, felt something itchy in my pocket and it was there. Dunno if it meant anything, so I just forgot about it.”

Yuji nodded, and Chiaki raised an eyebrow before speaking. “Well, then, I think it’s right for you both to know a certain trend between these numbers. If you either make peace with yourself, accept what happened, or understand what you did was monstrous- something to that effect, and apparently the numbers appear to you. So, Jimenez has done that, but you have not, Zelenin.”

“Guess I’m cool,” Jimenez said, lazing back.

Zelenin blinked a bit, not finding anything to say. “I… honestly find that a bit surprising, considering Jimenez’s predispositions-”

“Oi!”

“-no offense, of course, but if I do need to do something, then I’ll gladly follow any orders.”

“I’m a bit confused too, man,” Isamu chipped in, much to Jimenez’s growing annoyance. “I mean, you both seem pretty cool with the whole ‘my angel-slash-demon transformation made me an asshole’ thing. So why wouldn’t Zelenin have her numbers? Maybe she just needs to search in her pockets or something.”

“I’m not sure if you can really miss it,” Takeshi said. “It seems like one of those things you just _get_ after a while. Somehow.”

Zelenin just felt more and more left out by the minute.

~*~

“If even the amnesiac girl has her number, then what am I missing?”

“Technically, apparently Takeshi found her number for her, but eh,” Isamu said casually, switching on his Gameboy. “It came to me after I dashed off into the forest. Just follow your instincts, at one point it’ll pop up. Probably.”

Jimenez was off with the rest, immediately getting excited when they said fragments of their previous lives could be found, then losing half of it when they said they haven’t found any living thing yet, much less demon.

They suggested Zelenin come along, but she was too (emotionally and mentally) exhausted to go along. Instead, she was left in the living room, and Isamu had popped by to get the console he lazily tossed around.

In fact… “Why didn’t you go along with them?”

“I get most of my stuff alone,” Isamu answered simply, as the Gameboy emitted a sound. “When I found you guys, I was going around alone too. I sometimes go with Chiaki, but to be honest, I like lazing around the living room and watching bad movies. It’s nice, not having anyone interrupt you.”

“Then… if you do not like me here-”

“No, no! It’s fine,” Isamu quickly reassured. “It’s just a preference thing. But having company is nice too, even if they don’t talk at all. It just reminds you that someone else is alive apart from you.”

…Uh, wait.

“Alive was a bad word to use,” he added on as an afterthought, and Zelenin nodded.

She tilted her head in curiosity as the game began to play, recognizing the console as one of the things she’s never really gotten her hands on. “What are you playing?”

“Pokémon Emerald,” Isamu said, which only elicited more confusion from Zelenin. “…What, you’ve never played Pokémon? Do Russians really just drink vodka all day?”

“I don’t drink.” There was a tinge of annoyance in her voice, but it was true that she never did play anything like that. Nintendo consoles were not popular in Russia, but once she started work in Antarctica, her international colleagues referenced it now and then.

Isamu just gave Zelenin a look, as if he’s never feasibly imagined a Russian who doesn't drink. “Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously,” she half-hissed, but in the end still moved closer to try to see the screen. “What’s it about?”

“Basically, you catch Pokémon and teach them to fight for you, and beat up bad guys to let everyone be happy.” A pause.

Isamu sighed. “Game’s lost a bit of charm, seeing how similar demons are. But man, if only real life could be so clear-cut as good versus evil.”

“Good versus evil…” Zelenin muttered.

_Mastema called the angels the forces of good, and the demons as an undesirable evil-_

“There’s something complicated in this version of the game, though. Could relate to your situation, though mine was a bit different,” Isamu suddenly said. “Team Magma and Team Aqua are basically two extremist teams wanting to convert the world entirely into land or entirely into sea respectively. It’s pretty crazy and stupid, if you think about it, but…”

Zelenin could definitely relate to it. “Yes… it could be a nice touch of symbolism.”

Throwing a Great Ball and mashing A button madly, Isamu continued on. “Too bad, in real life, the insanity of both sides isn’t really shown as clearly. Though, technically, there could be people who genuinely want worlds like that. It’s unfair to have to give in to the majority for what they consider morally sane, huh?”

_She had to tame them. The angels were obviously good- they helped her, why shouldn’t she help them as well? And Ryan’s Squad… deal with Jimenez… so…_

_Become an angel, huh…_

“I disagree,” Zelenin stated, her mind almost in a world of her own. “Those people… may not know what’s best for them.”

Isamu raised an eyebrow. (If Takeshi was here, he’d note about how she sounded like those Messians, trying to convert people to their cause.) But he decided to change the subject.

“You know, you _can_ change out, there’s spare clothes in your rooms. Wearing that suit all the time has to be uncomfortable.”

“Well…” A sigh. “I’m used to these clothes, after wearing them for so long.”

_Reminds her- when she was human, before she made a mistake-_

_A mistake?_

“I guess it does-” Isamu snickered. “- _suit_ you. Get it?”

Zelenin blinked.

(If Chiaki was here, she’d punch him in the face.)

“Nevermind,” he added as a disappointed after note, and continued playing the game.

“That was quite funny.”

“You don’t need to pretend, man,” Isamu said, walking into a patch of grass.

Yeah, she guessed she didn't have to.

“HOLY SHIT, SHINY!”

“What?”

“Psyche,” Isamu suddenly said, revealing a normal Pokémon encounter. “Made you look.”

That was a cheap trick.

“Don’t stare at me that way. Everyone gets tricked every now and then,” he said, running from the encounter. “Plus, we’re both dead. So making a fool of ourselves here is harmless.”

“That’s true.”

_Making a fool of yourself while alive, though…_

Isamu shook his arm in front of Zelenin’s face. “You’re spacin’ out. What’s up?”

“I’m… reminiscing,” Zelenin decided to say, finding no reason to lie.

“What’s been done can’t be changed,” Isamu said smoothly. “Plus, your friend sounds like he saved humanity, right? Better than ours, at least.”

_“The disaster the demons hope to unleash is something born of none other than humanity.”_

_“Fear not and trust in the power I have received from the Lord…”_

_“Better this… than to die… as a blind… human…”_

They were all committers of atrocities, yes?

She truly believed in what she did. But, in the end, not even Heaven awaited her.

Well- Jimenez- Jimenez was just as bad, yes? Then why, even though they both lost themselves-

“Are you okay?”

“We did what we believed in,” Zelenin stated. “And… it really isn’t fair.”

Isamu blinked.

“Did you really? You seem like a nice girl. Not the brainwashing type, which is ‘pparently all what God is good for,” he said, trying to recall the stories of the others. “They prey on the nice people, and brainwash them into brainwashers. Are you sure you weren’t being screwed with?”

_The attraction of an angel form- an angel form, without sorrow…_

_Wait._

“Without sorrow… you can’t be happy. You can’t feel the heat of a summer day if you’ve never been in a harsh winter.”

“Uh, what?”

_Tricked? It was a bit of a harsh word, but- yeah._

_Jimenez got his numbers- because what he was doing was just through Bugaboo. He wanted to get out and live, not change the world to a never-ending war of blood. The only thing he regretted is his failure to save Bugaboo._

_She knew her angel form was inhumane. But she also wanted the best for humanity, and she wasn’t sure if exterminating Schwarzwelt was the best idea. But-_

_Mastema- God and angels- make use of people right from the beginning. It was her choice, and maybe, her choice was the wrong choice…?_

_No, it wasn’t the wrong choice. She wasn’t wrong, per say, but it wasn’t her true desire. She wanted everyone to be happy and advance, not brainwashed. She was made use of._

_But… it didn’t matter, because_ he _pulled through anyway, and got the Cosmic Egg from her._

_He must have succeeded. She believed he would. So… now she was dead, she could just rest._

A paper bristled by her ankles, and she picked it up.

“Oh, thank you!” Jumping up, there was a larger-than-life smile on her face as she walked away with a skip.

Isamu just stared.

What just happened?

Looking at the paper she left behind, he saw the numbers 5843 on them.

~*~

Zelenin spoke to Isamu a lot more after that. At one point, Isamu actually started thinking she had the hots for him, and bragged to Chiaki.

It was the first time she laughed that hard ever since the Conception.

Jimenez has a knack for finding stuff, and just _clicks_ with Takeshi. In the way they all think everyone else is shit, and they don’t need to be kind to people who don’t care about them. For once, Takeshi is not the third wheel of third wheels.

Yuji and Zelenin got along pretty well too, though they don’t joke around and annoy people as much as the other pair does. Chiaki and Zayin still keep to themselves the majority of the time, and Isamu started talking to Beth more and more. He found her cute- and if anything else, really sad. Starting any kind of friendship with Beth was just… kind of miserable.

Still, though.

“I can teach you how to play this game, so you don’t have to just watch,” Isamu said- probably for the millionth time, and Beth would always get the same kind of excitement. She’s actually a very quick learner, and very perceptive.

Beth is scared of both Zelenin and Jimenez; most likely from their age difference, and maybe strangeness (there’s not many different ethnicities in a post-apocalyptic Tokyo). Takeshi made her a bit antsy- ironic, since apart from Zayin he’s always looking out for her- but she got along fine with Yuji. She tried to socialize with Isamu and Chiaki- maybe because of their age?- but normally just stuck with Zayin, who’s turned into her protector of sorts.

Zelenin was on a mission. To crack the code behind the four-digit numbers, actually. She’s made many theories, but they were all grasping at loose straws. Due to their circumstances, as skilled as she is in science and mathematics, a topic she was never well versed in was religion and spirituality. That would probably impede her process, she says, but she does not give up.

Though, she’s starting to think that, perhaps the four digits have no significant meaning. Perhaps they are just randomly generated, for, _something._ It gave them hope of something to look forward to, at least.

…Yeah. Something.

Yuji still kept track of time, but Takeshi stopped after he threw the calendar out of the window when he got mad, which ended up landing on Chiaki’s head, making _her_ mad. Of course, no one would ever repeat the story to any other newcomers that could pop by.

March 22. The difference between new additions to the pseudo-family was extremely varied.

Finally, instead of finding people out in the wild or trying to stop a screaming match, the two of them arrived with a polite knock on the door. Much like Zayin and Beth, Yuji claimed.

Takeshi was the one to open the door, though.

He took one look at them, and said, “Okay, who’s the bible-thumper?”

As expected, Yuji pushed him aside and greeted them properly.

~*~

Like Jimenez and Zelenin, they’re quite civil. Everyone’s begun to think of the three screaming, flailing people as a one-time thing.

“My name is Jonathan,” the one with stupid hair said first. (Beth, sitting in the corner, likened it to a woolly animal she saw in Arcadia and giggled.)

“Name’s Walter.” Beth also noted that men tend to have the same hairstyle, looking around the room.

For once, the most excited to introduce them was not Yuji, but rather Zelenin. “Welcome! The place isn’t exactly Heaven, but it’ll serve you well once you are briefed on how to use it.”

“Though… maybe, you’d like to tell us what happened in your world?”

They both stared at each other at the same time.

“…I think we should figure out what happened first,” Jonathan said, and Walter agreed with a slightly off put face.

~*~

“Lucifer was a schoolgirl?” Takeshi asked incredulously.

Walter made a sound. “Ennnh… if you put it that way… yeah, actually.”

There was a moment of silence, then Takeshi shrugged. “Whatever. I guess I accidentally married Lilith, so it’s not that bad.”

“You _accidentally_ married _Lilith?”_ Jonathan and Yuji proclaimed at the same time, before Yuji decided to clarify. “You never told me this, Takeshi.”

“I didn’t notice till I dug up some shit,” he answered, and Jimenez cordially invited Walter to the ‘I-fused-with-fucking-demons’ club in the background.

“Angels don’t count,” Jimenez noted as an afterthought, and Zelenin kicked his foot while politely offering them drinks.

~*~

“I fused with the _Demon Lord Lucifer,_ so shouldn’t I get leadership status?”

Jimenez laughed, and waved Walter off. “Please, you sound like you were a sacrifice! You just got used. Both of you can’t even tell us what happened after you got ripped to pieces, too. Plus, Isamu and Chiaki reached superpower status, so they’d be the leaders if they ever got active enough to not laze around playing the PS1 all day.”

“Maybe I would know what happened, if I actually found my Gauntlet,” Walter said, glaring at the older man. “Now would you please aid me in searching? It’s a metal glove thing. As well as those… four-digit numbers you’re so fixated on.”

Takeshi climbed up the tree swiftly, and commanded it to grow, effectively knocking Walter off his feet in surprise.

“You’ll get used to it,” Jimenez shrugged, and Takeshi started yelling.

“THERE!” He pointed at a certain direction. “GO THAT WAY. JUST DO IT.”

Walter raised an eyebrow. “HOY, CAN’T YOU JUST COME DOWN TO SHOW US?”

“CAN’T. HAVE TO KEEP MY EYE ON IT.”

The newcomer just got more confused.

~*~

“Perhaps it would have been more efficient if we got those three to go along with us…” Zelenin hummed, leading the way. “Chiaki and Isamu are lost causes, but extra eyes could always help.”

The first few things they told him and Walter about consisted of their searching voyages, rooming, numbers, and Beth’s condition. Takeshi _stressed_ on the point that she was not to realize her affliction every day. Walter challenged him at first, claiming that it was monstrous she had to live a lie. But Yuji ended up explaining the details far more calmly than Takeshi would, with less violence.

Maybe that was why Jonathan was sticking around the back, where Beth was walking. Zayin was the very last, while Zelenin and Yuji marched on in front, talking to each other while thinking they were talking to the entire group.

Apparently, Zayin was pretty protective of Beth, in a way. But he tended to be more wary of the ‘strong can shape the world as they see fit’ crew.

So, there was totally no problem with talking to her.

“Beth, was it…?” Jonathan started, and she nodded. “I just arrived here as well. It’s rather jarring, isn’t it?”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Beth said, trying to follow the two leading. “I’m more confused over the circumstances of my death. Though, yours sounded far more painful… what prompted you to do as you did?”

“The safety of the Eastern Kingdom of-”

“No, I don’t mean that, you already told us,” Beth cut off. “I mean… what convinced you that their safety and lives were of your concern? Did you stop to think, ‘why me’? Was it… fate? Duty?”

Jonathan blinked for a moment, and nodded. “Duty sounds around there. But I also understood that if I did not, there was most likely no one else who could. For the sake of the many, one sacrificed life was nothing.”

Beth thought for a bit. “But you did say their mission was to exterminate Tokyo. Isn’t there more than one life being sacrificed?”

He almost winced. “The angels thought it was for the best. They were to be considered less than humans-”

“But…!” Beth paused, and shook her head. “Nevermind. I… don’t know much about the angels, but I suppose they are right.”

“No,” Zayin suddenly started, causing them both to jump. “No, they’re not.”

She looked down a bit, perhaps- feeling a bit guilty, about bringing this up. “I see… thank you, Zayin. Could you… tell me what happened to our world soon? What happened to Aleph?”

“When we get back. But rest assured, as I said, he most likely lived.”

“Alright…” she turned back to Jonathan, who seemed to be a bit less than comfortable.

Maybe she shouldn’t continue.

“Hey! A cave!” Yuji pointed out, and Zelenin hopped right to it, smiling excitedly.

Right as they walked to the entrance, Jimenez and Walter came rushing out of nowhere.

“…Greetings,” Walter said a bit awkwardly. “Takeshi is… in the trees.”

“I’m here now.” Takeshi walked past everyone, which just confused Walter _even more_. “Now that I don’t need to lead you, I got down.”

“But… you were… trees… distance…”

“Like I said,” Jimenez started, slinging his arm around Walter. “You get used to it.”

Jonathan unconsciously gravitated towards Walter, perhaps because of shared confusion more than anything.

“There are odd devices in here,” Zelenin said, from inside the cave. “Two! I do not recognize them, however.”

The two newcomers blinked, and immediately ran inside.

“Oh, look! It’s our Gauntlets,” Jonathan said, for some reason feeling the need to point out the obvious. Walter just jumped straight to the one with more scratches, sliding it on his right arm.

“…Welcome back, Master Walter,” the Gauntlet said, screen glowing. “Though, you will see that my functions are limited now.”

Well, that was disheartening. “Limited…? What’s that supposed to mean?” The chaotic Samurai asked, and Burroughs paused before speaking.

“For one, now I can work with anyone who wears the Gauntlet.” Beth heard this and immediately sat next to Jonathan, overzealous about the whole ‘talking gloves’ thing.

“Secondly, I only function to process codes and show you-”

“Did you say process codes?” Zelenin said, eye involuntarily twitching. “So you mean to say the four-digit codes?”

“Well… yes, they are four-digits-”

“Does that mean to say my code-breaking was really all for naught?” She sighed, sitting down on the cave floor and most likely questioning her choices.

Walter cleared his throat. “Could you tell us more about the codes? Jonathan hasn't gotten any. Me either, and the whole ‘realize your inner peace’ stuff the rest say… tis’ a bit unclear.”

“My apologies, Master Walter. I can’t say much.”

Right in the corner, Jonathan helped Beth put his Gauntlet on, the woman smiling enthusiastically. “Welcome. Please enter your code,” it whirred, in which Beth looked at Zayin expectantly.

“It’s 4-1-2-0.”

“Thank you!” She smiled, pressing the code, and-

-immediately blacked out on the spot.

“W-what? Beth?!” Jonathan took the Gauntlet off her, but she remained unresponsive, slumped on the floor and- sleeping.

Without needing to say much, Zayin picked her up and found that she was in a _very_ deep sleep, right on the spot. The commotion’s reached the others as well, and Takeshi is shoving people away to get a closer look.

“Let’s go back,” Zayin said simply, and Takeshi just narrowed his eyes and nodded.

(The Chaos hero kept staring at Jonathan the entire day, and even though he didn’t do anything wrong, he felt like he did. Both Gauntlets were kept away in Yuji’s room, and Beth snored away.)

~*~

“Is she still asleep?”

Zayin nodded while climbing down the stairs, which elicited a scowl from Takeshi. “Well, now what?

Chiaki looked around, sharing none of the tension that was being thrown around the room. “It’s most likely a one-time thing. If you consider Beth’s unique condition, the Gauntlets and codes are probably not dangerous to us.”

“I’d like to think that, too,” Takeshi said.

“No, we’re not putting on those things until we figure out what they did to Beth. We might be dead, but let’s not be reckless,” Yuji continued on.

Jimenez raised a point. “What if we don’t figure out?”

“What do you mean by that?” The Law hero asked, a bit afraid to find out.

“I don’t know! What if she doesn’t wake up, or something?”

Takeshi rubbed his forehead, looking like he wanted to retort but finding nothing to say. “Don’t say things like that! We can’t take risks with these things, let’s just leave them alone.”

Walter stood up to Yuji. “We need to take risks if we’re to find out anything. As one of the first people who came here, I thought you’d know that.”

“Exactly,” Chiaki echoed. “We’re not going to progress if we don’t do anything. It might provide clues to why we’re here. You’re stagnating our search, Yuji.”

“Guys! Can’t we just let the people who want to wear them put it on, and the people who don’t just… not?” Isamu said, as eloquently as possible. Zelenin nodded in agreement, but mostly stayed in the silence, much like Jonathan and Zayin.

This left Yuji in a less than well-off position. “Well, this is one risk that we can’t take. I’m sorry, but until Beth wakes up we’re not doing anything.”

“…I’ve… been awake for some time.”

(Takeshi realized the way she said it was exactly like the first time they realized her affliction. When there was only four, and she stood, scared, at the doorway.)

Walking down the stairs, everyone just went silent, and Zayin stepped forward as per normal to talk to her.

But instead-

“Yuji, I think you should give them the Gauntlet,” Beth said confidently, and the Law hero blinked at the mention of his name.

He wordlessly climbed the stairs.

“…Holy shit,” Takeshi finally said, breaking the silence.

~*~

“If you got part of your soul back… then what the hell will we get?”

Beth shrugged at Jimenez’s question. “Only way to find out is to try it!”

Yuji’s the first to go, ironically. Takeshi put on Walter’s Gauntlet, but paused a bit to see what happened when the Law hero entered his code.

There was a strange beeping noise through the ceiling- from the upper floors. In Yuji’s room.

Takeshi was the only one who followed him upstairs. Switching on the computer, his eyes widened.

“This…” Yuji breathed. “When I fought off a demon and got locked in jail… I didn’t check…”

~*~

_To: yuji112@pmail.com_

_Hey, Yuji!_

_Sorry I can’t go on the date with you, like we planned. Stupid barricades and all, right?_

_Anyway, did you know that my neighbor actually visited me? He asked me if I saw him in a dream, and all that! Was he trying to hit on me? That’d be really weird, since he probably knows I already have a boyfriend! I thought he was a nice guy, but I guess he’s just another weird creep. His dog is cute though, and his mom is really great!_

_Speaking of weird creeps, did you hear about the whole buzz with demons and stuff? I mean, with things on such a large scale I don’t think it’s mass hysteria. It’s probably a conspiracy theory to make sense of all the police everywhere, and things like that, but there’s gotta be something the government is hiding!_

_I know you don’t like it when I talk about conspiracy theories, but they are pretty fun. What do you think about it?_

_I think I gotta cut this short. Some guy’s at the door, looking for me. Hope it’s not that weird neighbor again!_

_Make sure you check your email and remember to reply! Love you!_

_angelring@pmail.com  
-Yuka_

~*~

Takeshi was a bit apprehensive towards what he’d find, maybe because of Yuji’s. But instead of keeping the allure of mystery, he entered the code anyway.

Again, a mysterious letter appeared from goddamn nowhere. It slid from the ceiling onto his hand.

_Hey, Yuji, Takeshi._

_Actually- ~~Yuka what do I write here~~ Yuka told me that writing messages to people who would never receive them is apparently a good thing to do?_

_Well…_

_Let’s start off. The survivors are planning to build nuclear shelters and all that. The whole Great Flood thing was ultimately bad, but it is allowing us to actually work together, for once!_

_We’re building a whole city here, hopefully. Finally, humans can decide their own fate, after all of this madness. I… do feel bad that you’re both not here, though._

_I ~~wish I could’ve stopped Nebiros, and your fusion, that was all one big bad idea~~ guess that since you’re both not exactly friends with God anymore, I won’t be seeing your spirits zap down in front of me from nowhere. Which is good, I guess! This whole ‘being alive’ mess isn’t yours to deal with anymore, and you don't have to become messengers for some weird man in the sky, haha._

_I’ve been asking around, actually… none of you are in Makai, which is weird. But, I guess you’re probably just in a human part, or something. I’m still not very well versed in the whole death subject._

_My mom’s… not in Makai, so she’s most likely in heaven. Not… the kind of heaven right at God’s doorstep, like yours, Yuji. But… the nice kind. If you guys are reading this, and have any way to meeting her, could you tell her I’m doing fine? I’ll be changing the world, and all that!_

_Yeah, I guess this does make me feel better. Yuka would write, but… she didn’t know you both too well. I wish she did, but… yeah._

_You probably don’t really know this, but I didn’t really have friends when this all started. I was… kinda always the drifter. So- even though it didn’t really end all that well, I’m glad you guys were there. I don’t care if it was bound and forced by fate, I still consider you both indispensible friends._

_Things change, though. People change… I know you used to seem like a coward, Takeshi, but you had the guts to go around telling people there were demons about. And after your fusion- I’m pretty sure that was you still talking, right? I’m sure. Yuji… your whole Messiah thing was… kinda creepy, to be honest._

_But… I don’t know. Why’d you push me away from Nebiros and get killed yourself? If we had switched places, how many things would change?_

_This is getting complicated… whew. When I die, I hope you don’t all punch me, or anything, for killing you. But that’s- hopefully- far away, so…_

_Yeah… I’m not sending this message, anyway, so I might as well end it here._

_I miss you guys._

Takeshi slipped it under Yuji’s door after he locked himself up again.

~*~

Instead of writing, Zayin got a painting.

He showed it to Beth.

Aleph was to the left, with Hiroko as well, though it was clear that they didn't exactly like sitting still for ages with those unnatural expressions on their face. Behind them was a bustling city- not the terrible tyranny of the Thousand Year Kingdom project, or the falsehood of Arcadia.

It felt a lot like Valhalla.

To the right sat a Jack Frost, waving at the painter. Did they go as far as to accept demons as friends?

He let Beth keep the painting.

~*~

_I can tell you that the world we know is gone, but rest assured that life continues elsewhere._

_I did what I thought was the best- no, I did what I wanted._

_I’m sorry._

Chiaki gave it to Isamu. She had no need for a half-hearted apology written by a demon.

Isamu got another game, with all the savefiles and whatnot left over. It’s one they played together.

Chiaki does suppose she’ll play it again with him one day.

~*~

When Jimenez entered his code, he thought something went wrong when nothing happened. Then, he heard a small noise outside the door.

They have no idea how the hell to deal with a demon, now that they lack COMPs. But hey, Yuji did fight off demons with his bare hands before, and this one seems content on just staying with Jimenez.

Zelenin got a letter from back home, one she never received because of her sudden deportment to investigate Schwarzwelt. It’s written all in Russian, and no one can understand it except her.

It’s probably for the best.

~*~

“Oh, come on, you’re kidding, right?”

“Nope, you need to find your codes.”

Walter groaned, lying down on the beanbag. “If it’s any consolation, I don’t have them either.”

“I would register that as a new quest, but I don’t have that function anymore,” Burroughs contributed helpfully. “Instead of moping around, how about you explore this place and see if you can find them?”

“Sounds better than wasting away for all the time we have left,” Walter said, getting up.

“…Are you going _now?”_

“Yeah.”

Jonathan sighed. “I’ll go with you.”

“I can take care of myself-”

“I need to find my own belongings too, you know.”

_Uh. Right._

Walter kicked the door open, and they both walked out.

(Chiaki did forget about the insult.

Beth apologized for being scared of Takeshi half of the time. Takeshi told her she didn’t need to apologize for something so natural.

Zelenin now owns Isamu’s Pokémon Ruby, and _did_ get a shiny, much to his grief.

Bugaboo roamed the trees most of the time, and whenever he wanted to, could find Jimenez with ease. Walter actually found it kind of endearing.

Jonathan and Yuji pointed out the similarities in themselves, as well as the _stunning_ similarities in Walter and Takeshi, and decided that it was more than a bit unsettling.

Beth played the PS1 with Isamu and Chiaki. She wasn’t the best at fighting games, but she was trying.

Zayin talked to Zelenin frequently about the mysteries of the place- and when Zelenin brought up that sometimes, the woods became unnaturally still and lifeless even when she wanted a breeze and a few falling leaves, Zayin found it his job to tell her about Hikawa.

Today is their March 24.)

**Author's Note:**

> so yuji just died in smti which i'm playing r/n and i was like 'noOOOoOO damn ok now im gonna take a break' and apparently this is a BREAK for me so yeah
> 
> gah i want food and sleep i might write more with other characters from spin-offs idk throw ideas at me
> 
> you could say this is a slice of life fic. too bad theyre all too fucking de ad. sl ice of death??? idek im so braindead. may write more, but im having a writers block on smtiv charas ahahahahaha;;;;


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